In recent years, UAVs have been developed and put into use in different applications. Besides UAVs such as large drones used in military applications, smaller consumer-level UAVs have recently become more popular in civilian applications due to their ease of use. For example, smaller self-stabilizing UAVs are now commonly used by aviation enthusiasts with little or no flight training, similar to how small-scale airplanes and helicopters have been used by skilled hobbyists for some time.
More recently, UAVs have been used as display items, to carry objects and serve other functions. For example, UAVs have been fitted with lights and flown in formation under computer control by the Austrian group Ars Electronica in 2012 to provide a visual display where the positions of the lights may be varied. As another example, U.S. Publication No. 2014/0236388 by Disney Enterprises, discloses the use of lighted UAVs that fly under computer control. In this application, the lighted UAVs are referred to as flying lanterns or flying pixels (flixels).
However, the amount of light provided by the foregoing and other current lighted UAVs is significantly limited. For example, current lighted UAVs are generally fitted with lights that do not provide significant lumens. This is a significant problem where, for example, the UAV is intended to fly high above the ground or otherwise viewed from a great distance. In this situation, because the light fitted to the UAV does not provide significant lumens, it may not be readily visible to observers on the ground. As another example, if the lighted UAV is operated in an area where there other lighting exists nearby, the light on the UAV may be drowned out or otherwise non-discernible to observers on the ground due to such “light pollution.” As yet another example, where the UAV is flying in daylight, low power lighting used with current UAVs could be imperceptible.
A reason why current lighted UAVs are fitted with low power lighting is because they cannot accommodate the heat generated by high-power lights. For example, LED lights that provide significant lumens also generate significant heat, and none of the above-referenced lighted UAVs address heat issues associated with such powerful LEDs.
Furthermore, simply fitting high-lumen lights to existing UAVs without cooling mechanisms presents other significant heating issues. For example, many high-lumen LED lights would overheat in a very short time, thereby preventing any type of sustained display time. In reality, such high-lumen LEDs could create a fire in a short amount of time if not cooled. In this case, even one minute flight display times are not possible, and such heat could disable the aircraft and cause a safety hazard to viewers. In any event, requiring a UAV to land after a very short flight time to avoid overheating the light or heat damage to the UAV severely limits the manners in which the UAV may be used.
Beyond cooling issues existing with high-lumen lights, the UAV may include other components such as electrical circuits, motors, and the like that generate heat and that may fail without cooling if the UAV operates those devices for extended periods. The above-referenced lighted UAVs do not address this issue.
Accordingly, there is a need for a UAV with a high-lumen lighting system so that the lighting display seen from distances, is not drowned out by nearby light pollution and/or may be visible during daylight hours. There is also a need for a UAV with a cooling system that may cool high-lumen lighting and other heat-generating components to avoid damage or other heat generated problems.